Essence XXXL Nude Lipgloss 06 Soft Almond, Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care Lip Balm, Malibu Sun Lip Care Vanilla Flavour

Hi there! Today’s post is about 3 lip products I’m using at the moment – Essence XXXL Nude Lipgloss 06 Soft Almond, Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care Lip Balm which is 100% vegan and cruelt-free, and Malibu Sun Lip Care Vanilla Flavour.

Let’s start with Essence XXXL Nude Lipgloss 06 Soft Almond! This is a gorgeous lip gloss. It has a subtle sweet flavour and a sheer brownish tint which is a good match for me (pale ginger with green eyes). I also like that the gloss doesn’t slip. All in all, this is a really good lipgloss! I paid £1 for it (Wilko, sale)

Onto Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care Lip Balm! I’ve been enjoying this lip balm for a few months now, and it’s almost finished. Why is it good? It has a beautiful texture that glides on and provides a real hydration boost. I’ve even used it around my eyes and my nose to heal broken, flaky skin. One word of caution though – this lip balm has a strong ricinus oil scent – if that’s not your cup of tea, you won’t like this lip balm!

If you’re interested, this lip balm is available as a duo pack for £3.49. I paid just over £2 during a Save 1/3 promotion (which Superdrug runs most of the time). Also, this lip balm is vegan and certified cruelty-free as it carries the Leaping Bunny logo!

Malibu Sun Lip Care Vanilla Flavour is a decent lip balm. It has SPF30 – this is great in many ways. However, this also means that the lip balm stings on broken skin. This lip balm is nice for healthy lips, and I would recommend as a summer holiday lip balm. The sweet vanilla flavour is alright too. Malibu Sun Lip Balms are usually available in sets of 3 for about £1.99 (Home Bargains and other bargain stores although the price may be different).

Whilst this post is not a product comparison, let me rate these lip products from best to 3rd best = Essence lipgloss, Superdrug lip balm, Malibu Sun lip balm. But I like them all; there’s not a single stinker amongst these products!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Nail Of The Day – Revlon Top Speed 570 Vintage & Essence Glamaxy Top Coat 34 Glamaxy Far Far Away (Photo Fail)

Hi there! Today’s post is about the mani I wore over the New Year’s weekend.

For this mani I painted my nails with Revlon Top Speed 570 Vintage (2 coats). I like this nail polish a lot. It’s a gorgeous red – it’s dark with a touch of wine and plum – it’s so beautiful!

The flakie top coat I used is Essence Glamaxy Top Coat 34 Glamaxy Far Far Away (1 coat).

This top coat is stunning. It’s a shame it doesn’t look great in the photo. Unfortunately, there was hardly any natural light, and this top coat doesn’t photgraph well under artificial light.

But the mani looked great in real life. I’ll redo it in the spring to show off the beautiful top coat in all its glory.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Nail Of The Day – Manhattan Buffalo 12, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Sonic Bloom, Essence Colour & Go 105 Party Princess & Stamping With MoYou London Suki 01

Hi there! Today’s post is a Nail Of The Day post.

For this mani I painted my nails with Manhattan Buffalo 12 (2 coats, thumbs, index and middle fingers) and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Sonic Bloom (2 coats, ring fingers, pinkies).

The cute glitter top coat I used on the pink nails is Essence Colour & Go 105 Party Princess.

For the images I used my MoYou London Suki Collection 01 stamping plate. The black polish I stamped with is Revlon Nail Art Expressionist 310 Night & Degas.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Essence XXXL Longlasting Lipgloss 1 Baby Doll’s Favourite, Collection Bedazzled Special Glitter Edition Eye Palette

Hi there! Today’s post is about 2 products – Essence XXXL Longlasting Lipgloss 1 Baby Doll’s Favourite and Collection Bedazzled Special Glitter Edition Eye Palette.

Let’s start with this Essence XXXL Longlasting Lipgloss 1 Baby Doll’s Favourite which I picked up when it was on sale for £1 at Wilko’s.

Whilst the pale peachy shade is nothing special, I do like the hydrating formula of this lipgloss. I’m also a fan of the subtle vanilla flavour. I’m happy to continue to use this lipgloss, and I have no doubt that I’ll finish it over the next few months.

Onto this Collection Bedazzled Special Glitter Edition Eye Palette which was £1.99 at Fragrance Direct. I’m not really a fan of the brand Collection, but the palette was cheap, so I wanted to give it a try.

This eye palette contains 9 glittery eyeshadows – a few colours, a few neutral shades, black and white. I did the swatches on a well-moisturised forearm!

The shades in the top row are purple, grey and a light beige. The purple is terribly chalky and not easy to blend. The grey and the light beige are poorly pigmented. It took more than 10 swipes to get the colours to show!

Row 2 has a chalky minty green, an incredibly poorly pigmented black (What were they thinking?) and a surprisingly half-decent gold. It took 10+ swipes for the green and black to show, but just about 2 or 3 swipes for the gold.

And in the bottom row there’s a terribly ugly metallic blue, a poorly pigmented white, and a very nice metallic brown. They did keep the best for last! The blue and white are, again, 10+ swipes, but the brown is just a single swipe!

I’ve made the decision to use the nice brown shade for all my eye looks until the end of the month. But after that I’ll bin the palette as I won’t keep it for just 1 eyeshadow.

Thanks for stopping by today, lovelies! 🥰

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Essence Plumping Nudes Lipgloss 05 Bold Love, Essence Plumping Nudes Lipgloss 07 So Heavy

Hi there! Today’s post is about 2 lipglosses that I picked up for half price at Wilko’s – Essence Plumping Nudes Lipgloss 05 Bold Love and Essence Plumping Nudes 07 So Heavy. These lipglosses promise plumper lips within seconds. I’ve been using these lipglosses on and off for a few weeks, and here’s what I think.

Essence Plumping Nudes Lipgloss 05 Bold Love is a sheer brownish gloss. The shade looks nice on my lips, but I don’t care for the cooling and plumping effect.

Essence Plumping Nudes 07 So Heavy is very pretty! When I bought this lipgloss, I didn’t notice that it was packed with glitter. And I was actually quite disappointed when I realised it was glittery. But then I tried it, and I fell in love with the shade – which is the perfect plum shade for pale girls). The glitter is hardly visible on my lips, but it adds to the glossy look. Another big plus is that the gloss is pretty much opaque – like a liquid lipstick. Again, I don’t care for the cooling and plumping effect, but this gloss is great in every other way, so I’m very happy to use it!

Essence Plumping Nudes Lipglosses are available in a number of shades for £2.30 each at Wilko’s. I paid £1.15 each for the 2 shades I bought.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Nail Of The Day – Essence Shine Last & Go 47 Forget The Rules & Stamping With Maniology Secret Garden BM 723

Hi there! This is another Nail Of The Day post. 🙂

For this mani I painted my nails with Essence Shine Last & Go 47 Forget The Rules (2 coats). This is a great colour. It will make a great base for Halloween nail art this October!

For the images I used my Maniology (formerly Bundle Monster) Secret Garden BM 723 stamping plate. I’m glad I found the Secret Garden stamping collection. It’s been lost in my stash for a while, but thanks to the house move, these stamping plates made a reappearance! 😍

I used a random black polish to stamp with – this is the reason why the images didn’t come out right and look either pale or blurry. Ah well…

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Haul! New Eye Palettes, Lipsticks, Fragrances, Nail Stuff…

Hi there! Today’s post is about some of the beauty stuff I bought over the past few weeks. To be more specific… all of these products were bought before the lockdown… OK, let’s have a look!

Essence Crystal Power Eyeshadow Palette – £3. This palette and all the other Essence stuff is from Wilko!

Essence Ola Rio Eyeshadow Palette – £3.50.

3 Essence This Is Me Lipsticks (03 Bold, 05 Legendary, 06 Real) – £2.30 each.
2 Essence Plumping Nudes Lipglosses (05 Bold Love, 07 So Heavy) – £1.15 each.
2 Essence Shine Last & Go Nail Polishes (27 What Is This Feeling, 47 Forget The Rules) – 80p each.
Essence Ultra Quick Dry Top Coat – £1.70.

Marks & Spencer Vanilla & Woods Eau de Toilette – £10.
Marks & Spencer Rhubarb & Peony Eau de Toilette – £10.

Some of the Essence stuff was on clearance, so I can’t say whether your local store would have it. The M&S fragrances are usually £12.50, but they were on special, so I bought 2 of them.

Have you tried any of these products or would you like to try any of them? What have you bought (or been able to buy) recently? Feel free to get in touch via the comments. And thanks for stopping by! 😘

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Nail Of The Day – Essence Colour Boost 11 Instant Match & Rainbow Foils

Hi there! Today’s post is about a mani I did a little while ago.

For this mani I painted my nails with Essence Colour Boost 11 Instant Match (1 coat). Essence’s Colour Boost polishes are one-coaters. I bought them (yes, all the colours) because I thought they’d make great stamping polishes, but I also use them when I don’t have the time to wait for multiple coats of polish to dry.

This time I also used rainbow foils to add a pop of colour to the blue nails.

The mani looked great in real life, and I wish I had been able to capture its beauty. But there’s just not enough daylight this time of year…

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Makeup Revolution London Lip Hug Love Can Set You Free, Essence XXXL Longlasting Lipgloss 2 Coral Delight, W7 Silky Eyes Bare It All

Hi there! Today’s post is about a number of products I’m using at the moment. Initially I wanted to do individual reviews, but then I decided to do 1 post. 😎 Alrighty, let’s take a closer look at the goodies…

The first item is one of the most wonderful lipsticks I’ve ever had – Makeup Revolution London Lip Hug Love Can Set You Free. Oh! My! God! This lipstick has the most amazing colour – it’s a nude shade that’s both rosey and brownish. I can’t get enough of this beautiful and timeless lip colour! I also love the formula – I think the name “Lip Hug” fits perfectly. 11 STARS!

Up next is this Essence XXXL Longlasting Lipgloss. The shade is 2 Coral Delight. This lipgloss promises a longlasting mirror shine look – and it delivers! I don’t normally go for coral lip colours, but this gloss was on sale for £1, so I bought it (+another shade). I enjoy using this lipgloss (i’s almost used up) because I like the sweet vanilla flavour, and the shimmery sheer coral shade suits me surprisingly well!

Item number 3 is this W7 Silky Eyes Bare It All eyeshadow palette which I started to use in early August. I’ve used this eye palette almost every day, and I’m very happy with it!

As you can see in the swatch below, the brown shade in the top right corner is shimmery, and the brown shade in the top left corner is matte. I like them both, but the brown shimmer is my favourite. I use it most days, and I apply it all over my lid. It goes very well with my green eyes.

The lighter shades are pretty much highlighter shades, and I use them as inner corner highlights. I love the light sand shade which blends beautifully into the brown eyeshadows, and the pale pink looks nice too. I’m not too keen on the cream shade though – I’ve never liked white-to-cream frosty shimmer shades. I never knew what to do with them because they don’t suit me.

Anyhoo… I do like W7’s Bare It All palette! And I can see myself finishing 3 of the 5 pans (shimmery brown, matte brown, sand). It won’t happen any time soon, though!

Have you tried any of these products? Or would you like to try them? Feel free to comment, and thanks for stopping by!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Nail Of The Day – Essence Vintage District 04 Get Arty & Stamping With Pueen 107

Hi there! Here’s another mani that I did a little while ago. This is also one that I consider to be a Nail Fail.

Alright… for this mani I painted my nails with Essence Vintage District 04 Get Arty (3 coats). In the bottle, this is one of the most amazing polishes I’ve ever seen. It’s a colour-shifting grey with plenty of yellow-to-orange-to-red shimmer. Like burning lava. Gorgeous!

However, once the polish is on your nails, it’s nothing but an uninspired khaki. A major disappointment!

Then I stamped – I used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure 819 Coat Of Arms and Pueen‘s 107 plate (which is part of Pueen‘s Make Your Day stamping plate collection.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde